


would it be enough?

by Izzyface



Series: mary, mary, quite contrary [1]
Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Alex introspective (sort of?), Established Relationship, M/M, Post-Canon, don't love Mary, light/medium angst?, my first fic in this fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:07:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27714521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izzyface/pseuds/Izzyface
Summary: Alex is summoned to see Queen Mary. The things that happen there are unexpected.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Series: mary, mary, quite contrary [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2029432
Comments: 28
Kudos: 152





	would it be enough?

They’d been at Kensington for two days when the summons came. Alex was alone in Henry’s rooms when a courier from Buckingham Palace appeared with a thick cream envelope. “From Her Majesty Queen Mary.” As soon as he took the envelope, the courier disappeared. 

Alex couldn’t help but notice that his hands shook a bit as he opened the envelope. He quickly scanned the words before he reached for the phone and snapped a picture. He sent it off to Shaan with **???** as the caption. 

FROM THE OFFICE OF QUEEN MARY

> TO: Mr. Alex Claremont-Diaz
> 
> I wish to speak with you this morning while my grandchildren Henry and Beatrice are out of Kensington Palace. Please arrive at my office at Buckingham Palace promptly at 10 o'clock. I will arrange for a car to drive you. 
> 
> This matter is of some urgency and importance. 
> 
> Her Royal Majesty, 
> 
> Mary Windsor

Shaan’s response came quickly. It was no-nonsense, just like the man. 

**Zahra’s Boo**

You have to go. 

I’ll contact her equerry 

for more info. 

Alex exhaled and replied his thanks. He put his phone down and then picked it up again. 

Thanks.

Don’t tell Henry. Pls. 

**Zahra’s Boo**

Mr. Clare…Alex. 

Fine. For now.

You have clothes

in Henry’s second closet. 

Appropriate for an audience 

with HRH. 

He hadn’t even considered what he would wear. Alex had pulled on the same sweatpants from yesterday (they’d passed the smell test) after Henry had left to meet Bea for charity work this morning. While Henry was going to be out for most of the day with his sister, Alex planned to get some of his boyfriend’s personal belongings packed for their move to Brooklyn next month. Presently, a team of PPOs and Secret Service agents were working with an agreed upon security agency to finish up any necessary upgrades before they could move in to the home Henry bought for them. Until then, Alex just followed Henry around the world like a dutiful prince consort. 

The invitation gave him less than an hour, so there was no time for a shower. Other than washing his face and brushing his teeth, Alex cleaned his important parts with a washcloth and soap. He went to Henry’s second closet (which was a ridiculous concept, by the way, and Alex made a mental note to tease him relentlessly later), expecting to find an appropriate suit for meeting the Queen. 

What he found instead was… Tom Ford, Hugo Boss, Armani, Thom Browne, Prada, McQueen… Alex thumbed through them. All in his measurements, all apparently custom made. When? How? 

He glanced down. There were even shoes! 

He reached for the Tom Ford (because American, duh!) and quickly dressed himself. Whoever had shopped for him, knew his taste. They were in bright colors and paid attention to detail. Alex was by no means a clothes whore, but he was a little bit in love. 

By the time he was ready, Alex had 10 minutes to make it the two miles to Buckingham. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem for him and Cash, but it was February in England, which meant the weather could change at any moment. While the skies had been blue when Henry left hours ago, they were now spitting little drops of water and ice. Fantastic. 

He pulled his parka tight around him and set off in the direction of the Queen’s home in London. 

“Mr. Claremont-Diaz?” 

Alex swung around. There was a driver waiting for him, a black car idling. “Yes?” 

The driver opened the back door. “I’m to take you to Buckingham Palace, sir.” 

“Right.” Alex slid inside the car and Cash climbed in after him. He pulled his phone from inside his coat pocket. No new messages from Shaan (or anyone else). What the fuck was going on? 

There was no small talk and the ride was over in just a few minutes. The driver opened the door and Alex quickly walked through the South gate. The guards let them through without a word, so clearly he was expected. He’d been made to give up his phone before entering the Queen’s office, which was… unexpected. But his mind went to recording devices. 

And that’s when he started to get the bad feeling. 

Queen Mary was seated at a large desk, surrounded by paperwork and books. She looked up when the door closed behind him. “Mr. Diaz, you’re late.” 

“I apologize, Ma’am.” He approached her desk. “And it’s Claremont-Diaz, actually. But you can call me Alex.” 

She pursed her lips at him. “Have a seat.” She waved to the chair in front of her desk. “Due to your association with my grandson, I’m sure you know it’s Your Majesty. Or My Queen.”

Alex didn’t feel it was necessary to point out that she wasn’t _his_ Queen. “Why am I here?” 

The Queen passed a sheet of paper across the desk to him. His brain immediately processed that it was a check before he realized what he was holding. “Twenty million pounds?” Alex looked up. “Are you—” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “Are you trying to pay me off?” 

“Drop the act, Mr. Diaz,” she instructed. “Isn’t this how things work in your country? You do something for me and I make it worth your time.” The older woman slid another paper across the desk towards him. “It’s simple. Agree to my terms, sign this contract, take that check, and leave.” 

“Leave Henry,” Alex concluded. “You’re willing to give me £20 million if I leave him?” At her nod, he said, “It’ll break his heart.” 

“Oh pish, posh.” She swiped away his concern with her hand. “Henry is young and will recover. He will find a wife, produce heirs, and have whatever liaisons he wants, with whoever he wants.” 

“Henry will never go for that,” he argued. Alex noticed that the paper in his hand was trembling. Was his hand shaking? “You know Henry will never go for that.” 

The Queen nudged the contract on her desk closer. “He will if you convince him. I’ve had my secretaries look you up. You can be quite convincing.” She laid a pen on top of the paper. “This is how I should have dealt with Henry’s father, instead of indulging Catherine and expecting it to burn itself out. And Henry is just like his mother.” 

It wasn’t often that Alex found himself speechless. 

Despite his best effort, he thought of all the things he could do with the money in his hand. It wasn’t Koch money or Mercer money, but it was _a lot_ of money. It was money he could use to help shape politics in America over the next decade. He could help prop up true grassroots candidates who wouldn’t have a chance otherwise. 

Or, he could use it for organizing civil rights workers and on-the-ground activists.

He could do _a lot_ with that money. But not at the expense of Henry. He laid the check back on the desk. “Henry is my choice.” Alex exhaled. “Was there anything else you needed to see me about?” 

The Queen studied him carefully. “Do you understand what you’re doing?”

“I do,” he answered. Alex stood and buttoned the front of his suit. “I love him.” 

“You’ll never be allowed to marry,” she told him. 

“Why not?” Alex questioned. “It’s legal here and in the United States.” 

“A royal cannot have your political ambitions, Mr. Diaz. Are you willing to give those up? Or are you going to make Henry give up being royal?” Her eyes narrowed. “Have you two discussed this in depth?” 

“Henry and I are committed to making our relationship work, whatever the sacrifices involved.” Alex gave her a tight smile. “I should go. My parents raised me to say something complimentary in these situations, but I have nothing to say… But you should know that Henry still feels familial love and loyalty towards you. It’s why he gives up his time and energy to attend to Royal duties, even when he doesn’t want to. I understand you don’t approve of me or our lifestyle, but if you continue to push then you’re going to push him right out of this family. 

“There are so many wonderful things about him that I’m sure you don’t know. He is not defined by the fact that he is gay, and it’s unfortunate that that’s all you seem to care about.” 

The Queen pursed her lips. “You are very young, Mr. Diaz.” 

“Claremont-Diaz,” he corrected. “And, while I may be young, I know enough to know that I should embrace happiness when given a chance.” Alex bowed. “Your Majesty.” 

He retrieved his phone from the Queen’s secretary and the same driver as before was waiting for him at the South gate, along with Cash. The rain had stopped, but there was an occasional ice crystal falling. The air smelled like it did in D.C. right before snow. “I think I’ll walk.” He looked up at the sky again. “Any chance you have an umbrella you can spare?” 

Once an umbrella was handed over, Alex set off towards Kensington with Cash at his side. He idly thumbed through his messages. Henry had sent a long a series of silly pictures of him and Bea, both with cream mustaches from their tea and cakes that Alex saved to his phone. Nothing new from Shaan. Was it possible the Queen’s equerry wasn’t in on what was going down this morning? 

The walk to Kensington was quick and quiet. Alex was trying to sort through things in his head. What parts could he tell Henry and what parts could he keep to himself? How would Henry feel that his grandmother felt he was worth £20 million? If Alex told him, would it be the thing that finally forced Henry to leave the royal family. 

He could still remember the fight between Henry and Phillip all those months ago, after the truth came out. When Henry shouted at Phillip. 

_“I’ll fucking abdicate! I don’t care!”_

_“We have a great uncle who abdicated because he was a_ **_fucking Nazi_** _, so it’d hardly be the worst reason anyone’s done it, would it? … What are we even_ **_defending_ ** _here, Philip? What kind of legacy? What kind of_ **_family_** _, that says, we’ll take the murder, we’ll take the raping and the pillaging and the colonizing, we’ll scrub it up nice and neat in a museum, but oh no, you’re a bloody poof? That’s beyond our sense of decorum! I’ve bloody well_ **_had it_** _."_

At the end of Henry’s rant, Alex had told Phillip that Henry was the bravest son of a bitch he’d ever met. And it was still true today. But Henry still deserved to have his family, if possible. Even if it was unlikely he’d ever be called upon to be king, Henry deserved the right to be acknowledged as a Royal. Alex was becoming more aware by the day how much Henry grieved for his father, and he never wanted to be the reason he grieved for any of his other family members. 

So that was that. He couldn’t tell Henry what the Queen had attempted to do. And not only would Alex _not_ be the youngest Congressman to ever serve, it was maybe time to be honest with himself about never being able to serve. Royals weren’t political. And Henry meant more to him than being in Congress or President. Those things were fleeting, but what he had with Henry was forever. 

Alex felt his phone vibrate in his hand. It was a picture of Henry, laughing at the camera (or whoever was holding it), his clear blue eyes shining with emotion. Alex felt his heart squeeze with affection. He thumbed over to Henry’s message page and started a new text. 

I love you.

I love you. 

I love you.

I miss you. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm never sure if people read these notes or not - so I'm a brand new fic writer to this fandom. In fact, I was about 20,000 words into my Nano story for Olicity when I read RWRB and got completely distracted and lost the plot. I'll have to go back and untangle that web at some point. But not before November ends, unfortunately. 
> 
> Anyway, this idea woke me up around 4a... I just wanted to see if there was any room/interest for my style of writing out there? I usually have a beta I work with, but this I just glanced over myself. I think it's okay? 
> 
> Oh! And I hope the formatting is okay. That was my very first time with that kind of stuff.


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